Pinterest Challenge: Faux Stacked Log Fireplace Facade

Update: our faux fireplace screen made it into This Old House! Check out the details here.

Six ish months ago we had to turn the gas off in our fireplace… which was such a downer as there’s nothing more amazing than flipping that little gas switch and watching a beautiful, blazing fire set the mood for your living room. Perfect for chilly nights that call for family games on the living room rug or for a late night Netflix. But alas, this is an older home with old fireplace issues and we had to switch her off.

Hopefully one day she’ll blaze again.

Until that day it’s time to turn the eye-sore innards of this old fireplace (black bricks, metal curtain and goldish top plate and all) into a prettier focal point for the room. Enter Pinterest Challenge, Winter 2013.

I love these little challenges because they provide the motivation to cross a big project off of the massive to-do list, and usually I can justify choosing a project that I more love and want to complete, and less of one I must do because it’s next on the priority list. Here are a few past projects that we’ve tackled around here, including painter’s tape wallpaper, gold chevron napkins and an ombre stool for Liv (one of my favorites) among others.

Oooo I love the above image! What a great way to utilize the empty space in a fireplace while still keeping a room cozy and comfortable (fireplaces and stacked wood have a way of doing that…).

Our finished project… drumroll…

I would be very happy if you thought we went and stacked a bunch of logs in our fireplace and called it a project! But I promise it was much more than that. The goal here was to build a faux log stack facade that we could remove when we were ready to use the actual fireplace, and replace the next day once the fireplace was cool again.

The hope was that the screen would give the depth and perception of a a bunch of stacked wood, but really it would be just a few inches thick and somewhat easy to pop in and out.

I ran into the first big road block while tracking down the actual logs. You’d think that this would be fairly easy… but turns out smaller logs (unchopped) in lighter wood colors (such as birch rather than oak or redwood) are not always readily available in these desert parts of San Diego. Who would have guessed.

I really lucked out when a friend of ours suggested eucalyptus and then found a huge pile of firewood for the taking! And he generously handed over variously sized logs for me to include in the project (thanks, Dave). Other resources that might be useful? Craigslist and Etsy (turns out you can even purchase sliced logs for the right price).

Kevin chopped up my logs into 3″ slices and I began assembling my faux stacked wood.

The backing for our fireplace screen is a piece of plywood measured, cut to size and painted black.

I considered spray painting it but we had only a satin finish in the paint closet, so I used up a bit of leftover chalkboard paint that we had on hand (from this and this project) to achieve a more matte finish (the above is still wet, but once this paint dried it was more than perfect).

Our nail gun is out on loan at the moment or I would have simply lined up my log slices, laid the backing over the top and fired away to secure the slices to the backing and to keep the logs from moving, but instead I lathered each slice individually with a thin coat of wood glue and allowed the entire project to dry overnight (that stuff is tough). When we get the nail gun back I’ll add extra reinforcements to ensure that none of these logs come sliding down, especially with toddlers at play.

I opted for a 3″ depth on the log slices (rather than 1/2″ or something easier to manage/less heavy) so that they would add more depth to the fireplace and (hopefully) make the black backing a bit more invisible. In person it’s obvious that this is a faux fix to our little fireplace conundrum, but it’s a neat faux finish at that!

Should I paint out that gold top plate a darker, oil rubbed bronze color?

Comments

Love this idea. I am in a 1920’s house with one working fireplace and one that doesn’t, neither have flues so I was trying to figure out what to do to help block the heat from traveling up the chimney and being lost. This idea is perfect and pretty. Thanks

LOVE LOVE THIS! I am a photographer and wanted this for my faux fireplace for Christmas sessions, and tried to explain this exact project to my husband but he just couldn’t grasp the idea. I am so glad I found this, now he understands what I was trying to explain. Amazing demonstration and love the whole look!

I loved this so much when I found your blog that I’m preparing to do it in our fireplace as well. Would you mind sharing the height and width of your fireplace opening and the various sizes (diameter) of log you used? I’ll be ordering wood for the project and would so appreciate your help to make sure I’m on the right track with the sizes and quantity.

Hi there! The diameters of the logs varied with what we found, but most are between 2 & 4″ across. The height and width of the board I used to mount the logs was just over 34 by 24″, but that’s because that was almost the exact opening of our fireplace. Good luck :)

I totally love your idea, but I also would paint the brass bar – black. It looks more finished when I compared the look of the two pictures of the fire place. Just my opinion and it doesn’t seem that I am in a majority. Oh, well.

Omg. I love this. Our fireplace is identical to yours and has one of those mesh-type fireplace guards which our little crawler goes and tries to pull off. He also tries to get inside the fireplace (its not running of course!) but this will be the perfect cover up. Instead of using plywood I might use superthick foam board – now to find the perfect sized log to slice up!

Hi Josh, I started with 7 or 8 logs in varying sizes and then cut them all to rough 3″ pieces without keeping track of how many I had at what widths and what heights (just making sure they were about 1/2″ in variation and no more). Then I arranged them until I liked the uneven pattern and attached them to the board. It was more happenstance than planned, but I love the variations in sizes too. Good luck!

I actually just slid it under the lip of the brass firebox top in the fireplace. I made it to the exact size so it’s sort of shoved in there, even my two year old couldn’t shake it loose if she wanted to. Another thought is to put a tripod on the back of it to help keep it upright.

I have been wanting to do this project for moths now but was so daunted by how many logs I would need (some say over a hundred?!) Thanks so much for sharing I am truly inspired! Looks amazing and I can’t wait to start on it!

There are very few projects I like more than one that is actually useful and pretty – and this fits the bill. I love that you made it a temporary screen, because the very thought of removing a bunch of logs from a fireplace to use it just seems so tedious! Here’s perhaps a wacky thought: If the back of your board is in decent condition and you still have some leftover chalkboard paint, why not paint that side too. Then you could turn the board around and Liv could color on it. I’m also envisioning a chalk fire drawing…corny perhaps, but it could be a fun change of pace. (Can you tell I wish we had a fireplace?)

I’m also trying to decide if I should paint the brass piece on my fire place. At first I hated it, but it seems to be growing on me. I like your idea of keeping it metal, but giving it a little more character.

[…] isn’t practical with a set of 2-year-old twins running around. I stumbled upon this great faux stacked log fireplace facade from Pepper Design Blog, and I was set on making this to cover my fireplace. I even bought the […]

[…] has been taking up residence and bringing a bad vibe to the whole room. I saw this genius DIY on Pepper Design and got the bug to try it on our fireplace. Here is the progression of our poor, pitiful […]

Welcome to my little slice of the web where I practice finding family, career, homemade & inspired balance on a daily basis. This is where I capture my happy moments, and I'm honored that you're here to join us. Home + creativity + good eats + journaling + life as a working mom. Read more...

Today is my 30th birthday. I don't feel much older, but hearing that number roll out of my mouth feels as though I'm closing on a big chapter in my

Featured

Favorite Topics

Welcome to my little slice of the web where I practice finding family, career, homemade & inspired balance on a daily basis. This is where I capture my happy moments, and I'm honored that you're here to join us. Home + creativity + good eats + journaling. Read More…